Percussion instrument practice



June 1, 1965 R. GOULD TAL 3,186,290

PERCUssIoNINsTRUMENT PRACTICE Filed Nov. 1:5, 1962 INVENTORS ARNOLD GOLDBERG RONALD GOULD BYMWM ATTORNEY.

United States Patent O y 3,186,290 PERCUSSION INSTRUMENT PRACTICE Ronald Gould, 54 Jellerson St., Garden City, N.Y., and Arnold Goldberg, 115 Falmouth St., Brooklyn, NX. Filed Nov. 13, 1962, Ser. No. 237,102 7 Claims. (Cl. 84-411) This invention relates to musical practice equipment, more particularly to percussion practice means, adapted for use by percussion instrument players in developing and improving their skills, without disturbing those in the vicinity of the practice area.

` As is the case with all musicians, so in the case ot percussion instrument players, practice is required in order to improve and maintain skills. However, thepercussion instrument player finds it desirable to be able to practice while producing sounds of relatively low level intensity. To this end, a variety of so-callcd practice pads have been evolved providing a surface simulating the eiiiect of the percussion instrument on the drumsti-cks, or the like, but not producing the percussion instrument sou-nd.

Inthe absence of the sound, the musician is restricted to obtaining practice in improving his manual dexterity in the handling of the drumsticks to obtain desired percussion beat patterns. It is found that maximum skills result when the muscles of the forearm, wrist and hand are trained to provide the musician with almost complete control over the movement of the drumsticks so y that little yreliance will have to be placed on the resilience of the percussion instrument surface to obtain desired eilects. With the conventional drum practice pad, simulating the etects yof a percussion instrument, the drumsticks tend tobounce as a result of the resilient nature of the surface of the practice pad. This bouncing minimizes the muscular eiiort and skill required or the musician, since the stick bounces away from the surface of the resilient practice pad and is ready for return under theaction of gravity requiring musculareiiort on the part of the user primarily in guiding the stick rather than in manipulating same to obtain desired etlects. lt is thus found that conventional practice pads, in addition to failing to provide experience with desired acoustic effects, due to the lack of sound lproduct/ion, also tail to provide the desired musculature needed for facile playing of the percussion instrument.r

It is with the above problems and desiderata in mind that the present means including both method and apparatus havebeen evolved, means permitting a percussion instrument musician to practice without disturbing those in the environs ot the practice area, and in a fashion such as to permit himto strengthen and develop the necessary musculature and skills to effect desired ycontrol rrequired for effective percussion instrument playing.

It is another important object of the invention to provide improved means for percussion.instrument practice in which the drumstick will ynot be lbounced oil the prac- Patented June l, i965 ICC tice surface, so as to require the practicer to develop manipulative skills iu obtaining desired percussion beat patterns,

A further object of the invention is to provide improved percussion ipractice means permitting conventional utilization or 'two drurnsticks, but enabling the practicer to selectively exercise either one or both of his hands.

These and other objects o the invention which will be made hereafter apparent are achieved by employing a method of percussion instrument practice in which the drumstick isy impinged on a practice surface not tending to bounce the drumstick away from the surta-cc after impingement, thereby requiring the practicing musi ian to employ his own muscles and skills to effect movement of the drumstick to and from the percussion surface. A novel practice device has been evolved simple in fabrication and maintenance providing a practice percussion surface which will not bounce the drumstick away from the surface during practice. This may be accomplished most effectively by arranging an energy transmitting flexible pad over a shock absorbing chamber which takes up the impact load imparted to the surface of the pad by the drumsticks.

An important tea-ture of the invention resides in thc provision oi the flexible pad surface with `desired rigidity to give the necessary ytactual feel to the practicing musician, but at the same time mounting the pad to dissipate all of the shock of impingement of the drumstick upon the surface so as not to bounce the drumstick away from the practice surface.

Another feature of the invention resides in the tact that the novel non-bouncing practice surface may readily be combined with a conventional resilient bouncing practice surface so as to permit the practicing musician to selectively employ either one or both of the surfaces n for practice purposes, at the same time permitting him to strengthen one or the other of his 'hands as desired.

The specilic details of the invention and theirfmode of functioning will be made most manifest and particularly pointed out in clear, concise and exact terms in conjunction with the `accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. l is a perspective view with parts broken away' or a percussion practice device embodying the instaatk numerals in the various iiguresswill be employed to des-` ignate like parts. As best seen in FlG. l, the novel percussion instrument practice device l@ is yformed preferably of a rectangular boxlike coniguration, having an upper frame member 11 provided withy a central opening l2 here shown as rectangular. This framernemberll may be made of any yrigid structural material such as wood, plastic, any suitable metal, or the like. A base 16 formed of a similar material is spaced from the frame 11 and is joined thereto by means of side walls 1'7, 1S, 19 and 2li, K

enclosing a shock absorbing chamber 22 beneath aperture 12.

The resultant structure forms a boxlike configuraaise,

tion having a chamber 22 open at the top, at opening i2. Arranged within this chamber, a cushioning material 23 such as berglass, kapok, or the like is inserted to a non-compressed height ush with the surface of frame l1. Air release apertures 2- extend through base le to chamber 22.

Overlying the `opening l2 is a ilexible energy transmitting pad 25 formed of a rubber sheet material. Rubber having a durometer hardness of 55, or butyl identied as Compound No. 50M-B of the Elmhurst Rubber Company, is found particularly suitable. This pad 2S has a relatively thick center portion of a dimension equal to or slightly less than that of the opening i2 and ilanges 2.5 are extended about the peripheral bounds of the center portion of pad 25 for resting upon the edges of frame il as viewed in FIG. l. lt will be noted as seen in FIG. 2, that the lianges cantilever the pad 25 over the cushioning material 27 encased within the boxlike chamber 2L?. of the frame lll.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FG.

3, the novel practice device Si) is formed with a top frame 3ft of a type similar to lframe ll shown in FIG. l. Frame 31 has opening 32 on one side thereof and surface 33 ot the frame 3l is extended to one side thereof (to the right as viewed in the drawing). Upon this surface 33, a resilient pad member 35' is secured. Beneath opening 32 of the frame portion 3l, resilient shock absorbing material 3d such as fiberglass, kapok, or the like, is supported. In the PEG. 3 embodiment the frame 3i and surface 33 are shown as fabricated from a unitary block of material such as wood with cushioning chamber 365' routed out of the wood beneath the opening 32 in ltrame Sil. Over the chamber 3d an energy transmitting pad 3e, having ilanges 37 like pad .25 is secured. Air release passages 38 are provided similar to passages 2d as shown -in FIG. 2. Leg holes 39 are provided on the under surface, and legs 40 are arranged in two of these holes to incline the device En.

Operation In use, the aforedescribed novel practice device is employed to permit the percussion instrument musician to practice without disturbing those in the practice vicinity. The device in either of the disclosed forms is suitably supported either on a drum stand or on any other support which maintains the pad surface at a height and angle corresponding to that at which the percussion surface of the instrument to be played is normally maintained. lit will be understood that drums of various types are those on which practice is normally obtained in this fashion. However other percussion type instruments, such as xylophones, or the like, requiring the development of a manipulative skill permitting rolls or the like beat patterns to be played may be practiced with the instant device.

As best seen in FIG. 4, desired angling may be obtained by positioning two of legs it@ in leg holes 39 so as to elevate any selected side of the device, as desired.

After setting up the practice device, the practicing musician employs conventional drumsticks of the type nor-f mally used in playing the percussion instrument being practiced. The drumsticks are impinged on the pad surface to obtain desired beat patterns. Since the iexible energy transmitting pads 25 and 36 do not bounce the sticks, it is necessary for the practicer to manually manipulate the stick to obtain desired beat patterns, thus strengthening his muscles and improving his skills so that in playing a conventional percussion instrument, regardless of the resiliency of the percussion surface of the instrument, desired effects may be obtained.

In using the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 3, the practicer may use either one or both of pads 35 and 36 simultaneously due to their proximity. Thus both sticks may be irnpinged on either pad, or when only one hand requires skill and strength development, the practicer may use both sticks as usual, impinging the stick held in the hand to be strengthened on the nonbouncing cushioned flexible pad 35, while impinging the other stick on the bouncing resilient pad 3S.

It is thus seen that an improved method and device have been evolved permitting a percussion instrument musician to practice without disturbing those in the vicinity of the practice area, and facilitating the development of necessary musculative and manipulative skills to obtain desired percussion beat patterns, Without relying on the physical condition of the percussion instrument.

The above disclosure has been given by way of illustration and elucidation, and not by way or" limitation, and it is desired to protect all embodiments of the herein disclosed inventive concept within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

Percussion practice means, said means comprising: a frame member having an aperture therein forming a chamber; energy transmitting ilexible pad means; flange means relatively thinner than said pad means, said flange means overlying the frame member and cantilevering the pad means over the chamber; and shock absorbing means underlying said iiexible pad means to absorb and dissipate any shock load imparted to said pad means upon impingement of a drumstick on the surface thereof, whereby the drumstick will not be bounced.

2. Percussion practice means, said means comprising: energy transmitting flexible pad means; shock absorbing means underlying said flexible pad means, said shock absorbing means comprising chamber means; and iibrous means Within said cha aber means to absorb and dissipate any shock load imparted to said pad means upon impingement of a drumstick on the surface thereof, whereby the drumstick Will not be bounced; air passage means extending from said chamber means to release any pressure built up in said chamber means.

3. Percussion practice means as in claim 1 in which resilient pad means are mounted adjacent said energy transmitting pad on a relatively rigid surface so as to bounce any drumstick impinged on said resilient pad means, whereby a practicer may selectively strengthen and improve the skill of one or the other hand while simultaneously using two sticks.

d. A percussion practice device comprising a relatively rigid top frame having an opening therein; a flexible energy transmitting pad secured on said frame; a flange thinner than said pad peripherally surrounding said pad and dimensioned to rest on the edge of the frame surrounding said opening to cantilever said pad over said opening so that said pad is adapted when struck with a drumstick to transmit the energy of the drumstick to the space in the frame opening so that the drumstick will not bounce, requiring the practicer to manually manipulate the stick to obtain desired percussion beat patterns.

5. A percussion device asin claim 4- in which a chamber is formed beneath the opening in said frame encompassing a volume of air to damp the shock load imparted to said pad by a drumstick impinging thereon.

6. A percussion device as in claim #i having a relatively rigid supporting surface extending from said frame; a resilient pad on said surface acting to bounce a drumstick impinging thereon, whereby a practicer may selectively strengthen and improve the skill of one or the other hand while simultaneously employing two drumsticks.

7. A percussion device comprising: a relatively rigid top frame member having an opening therein; a ilexible energy transmitting pad secured on said frame over said opening; a chamber formed in the opening encompassing a volume of air to damp the shock load imparted to said pad by a drumstick impinging thereon so that the drumstick will not bounce; a ibrous cushion contained within said chamber, and air passages extend from the interior of said chamber.

(References on following page) 

1. PERCUSSION PRACTICE MEANS, SAID MEANS COMPRIS: A FRAME MEMBER HAVING AN APERTURE THEREIN FORMING A CHAMBER; ENERGY TRANSMITTING FLEXIBLE PAD MEANS; FLANGE MEANS RELATIVELY THINNER THAN SAID PAD MEANS, SAID FLANGE MEANS OVERLYING THE FRAME MEMBER AND CANTILEVERING THE PAD MEANS OVER THE CHAMBER; AND SHOCK ABSORBING MEANS UNDERLYING SAID FLEXIBLE PAD MEANS TO ABSORB AND DISSIPATE ANY SHOCK LOAD IMPARTED TO SAID PAD MEANS UPON IMPINGEMENT OF A DRUMSTICK ON THE SURFACE THEREOF, WHEREBY THE DRUMSTICK WILL NOT BE BOUNCED. 